Peter Hart

In a worldwide poll called the ‘Top 100’ Peter Hart was voted the 3rd most influential and inspirational windsurfer of all time. At various times known as "The Guru" and "Mr Windsurfing" he has been involved in every aspect of the sport as competitor, journalist, TV commentator, trainer, coach and program maker.

10 May 2016

Peter HART Champions the Kode 109 fsw

With introduction of early planing free-moves and free-rides and super-stable big rigs, the plight of the larger windsurfer has improved immeasurably in recent years.

However, the one area where they’ve struggled to compete is on any board with ‘wave’ or ‘freestyle’ in the title – there haven’t been many good big ones.

I know there have been some 110-120 wave boards – and they’re good on a wave but not particularly early planing. It’s not entirely the fault of manufacturers wondering how many they’ll sell – it’s also a design conundrum. It’s not just a case of scaling the thing up – as you make the board bigger and flatten out the rocker to help the big fellahs plane early, it necessarily makes the thing less manoeuvrable.

Long story short, I was delighted to see Starboard introduce the Kode 109 fsw this year – but would it work? It’s unlikely a Starboard tram rider would say ‘no’ … But it really does.

As an ultimate test, it was the only board I took on recent Tobago clinic, where typically the wind averages around 15 knots – a frustrating big man strength that normally consigns them to big kit. At 90kg, I’m not a monster but still put powered by a Bolt 6.5, I was flying all week. The other option might have been my Atom 110; but by having the Kode and the choice of a smaller fin and inboard strap settings, the sailing options were far greater. Most of the volume is hidden in the shoulders, so if you take it into waves, you have the a little wary of full rail turns on the face. But it generally feels like a much smaller board – until you stop and realise you can uphaul easily.

Peter Hart loving the 2016 Starboard Kode 109

It’s got the thruster option which definitely helped on the cutback (heel) side in waves. For waves I also preferred a bigger central fin (25cm) than the one given.For general messing around, the 32 Drake crossover worked fine. That’s it. So big men, I’m afraid there are now NO excuses!

In Praise of the BOLT

Fresh from his clinic tour of Greece, Peter Hart is ecstatic over Tush’s classic all-rounder.

When I’m based at a centre doing a clinic, my over-riding priority is to get everyone set up well on the right kit – because nothing good will happen on the technique front unless you’re balanced, comfortable and confident. Many centres have a wide choice of designs. Marvellous … but too much choice can be a burden. You get used to a rig; then the next day the wind has changed and/or someone has nicked the one you tuned so finely. You’re forced to take another design, which is good … but different – and so you waste an hour tweaking and getting used to it. In Vassiliki this year the place looked like a ‘Bolt-fest!’ Neilson and Ocean Elements are just two of the centres, which have majored on Bolts. Why?

1. Because they are so easy to rig, tune and use2. And because they eliminate the burden of decision.

I was based at the Neilson centre. Over the week we were blessed with winds ranging from 12-25 knots. As my clients asked me for sail advice on day one I basically said, “follow the Bolts, and all will be well.”

Neilson racks full of Bolts

People agonise over sail type a they change sizes – “do I need cams?” “Do I need a free-ride/freestyle or wave sail?” The Bolts make that decision for you, gradually mutating and getting more manoeuvre-oriented as they get smaller but still maintaining the same easy feel.

When you change up or down size, you just want to feel that someone has turned the power up or down – you do NOT want to have to totally readjust to a new design. The Bolts offer consistency and familiarity across the whole range from the 9.5 down to the 4.0.

Smaller sizes The area of most confusion currently lies in the sizes of 5.7 and under. How many battens? Where do you want the effort? How full? What feeling – crisp or soft? And the answer you get depends on whether you ask a freestyler or a wave sailor or a speed merchant. One situation last month in Vass illustrated the glory of the Bolts perfectly. In 18 knots of wind Tim (88 kg) was hammering up and down on an Atom 120 and twin cam 7.8 Bolt – and next to him and holding her own was Kirsty (60kg) on a 103 Kode and a Bolt 5.0. Kirsty, as with many improving free-riders, was still on a relatively big board for her weight (in case the waterstarts didn’t work out) but was getting planing easily and screeching along thanks to a small sail that is both light but still enough low end power to drive a big board.

PH mid duck gybe with 6.5 Bolt

But before you cast it is as just an easy entry-level tractor, on the same stretch of water we had Max, a Neilson instructor, busting out every new skool trick in the book on the same Bolt 5.0. He ‘d just rigged it with a little more outhaul to tighten up the back end and make it neutralise more easily.

Not surprisingly, 3 of the people on the Vass course went out and immediately bought a selection of Bolts the moment they got home.